Former Chairman of Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC), Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, has publicly criticised the Commission’s recent decision to introduce regional collation centres for presidential elections. In his Constitution Day Lecture on Monday, January 8, Dr. Afari-Gyan voiced his concerns, deeming this move retrogressive and potentially detrimental to the country’s electoral processes.
Dr. Afari-Gyan, who served as the EC Chairman from 1993 to 2015, has raised alarm bells over the potential risks associated with regional collation centres. He contends that these centres could inadvertently create more opportunities for manipulating election results, thus endangering the overall integrity of Ghana’s electoral system.
He emphasised the significance of addressing these concerns promptly, stating, “I am sure that the Electoral Commission is aware that most of the election controversies in recent times have centred on the counting and collation of votes. For this reason, I consider the setting up of regional collation centres in our presidential election to be a retrogressive step. Because it increases the number of points at which results can be manipulated.”
Dr. Afari-Gyan also noted the origin of this practice, stating, “I understand that we borrowed the practice from Nigeria, surprisingly at a time when Nigeria was seeking ways to send results straight from the police stations to one location.”
Additionally, Dr. Afari-Gyan proposed a solution to the growing number of election petitions that do not succeed. He suggested that such petitions should be subject to sanctions to deter frivolous claims and ensure that they are not used as a means to appease financial backers and supporters.
The former EC Chairman expressed his concerns that some candidates might be resorting to hastily filing election petitions, alleging result manipulation in an attempt to appease their backers and secure another chance in the electoral process.
